Lost Memories
by ShadowJ51
Summary: Part 10 of a series. Sequel to The Citadel. A desperate search for answers... a truth that could destroy everything... but no matter what the cost... we must find...
1. Silence

Silence

Shadow- "First off, I'd like to say to Dragonrider04: Ha-ha! Missed! Oh, and to everyone else: Finally! Last part of the series! YAY!!!!"

Renamon- "I don't think that table is meant for jumping on..."

Shadow- "Why not?"

Renamon- "...it's made of glass..."

Shadow- "Oh. Well, that explains the blood. ...and the pain. No, wait, that's just from crew practice. Never mind.

Anyways...

Welcome to the start of part ten! The last part! To new readers, welcome! And to old readers, welcome back! If you haven't read part one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine of my story (The Coming Sunset, Nightfall, Through the Darkness, Road to Dawn, Mainframe, Dark Worlds, Hidden World, Reverse/Rebirth, and The Citadel), please go to my profile page, and read those first. Or else this part won't make any sense to you whatsoever.

And to long-time readers: Thank you for reading this far! The story contiues exactly where it left off, so long you'll feel right at home. (Or at least as at home as it's possible in this bundle of insanity I call a storyline) Enjoy this chapter!"

Renamon- "How many times did you insult your self during that?"

Shadow- "I dunn... blood loss... getting woozy..." (loud thunking sound)

Renamon- "Um... are you-"

Shadow- "Yes! ...sorta..."

Renamon- "Okay... Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Review when finished!" (passes out)

Renamon- "Okay, I'm getting help..."

* * *

**real world, tamers**

The house was quiet.

The faint, familiar hum of the fridge, the buzzing of a clock, which read 5:59, and the muffled sound of a television next door gave the room its only ambiance.

The sun was visible setting through the window, the shades partially open.

The front door opened, and a goggle-wearing boy walked in. He quickly shut the door.

The television snapped on. Repetitive music sounded for a few seconds, and an announcer broke in.

"Welcome... to the six o'clock news."

The announcer continued as the boy opened the fridge, and shut it again. He opened a soda, then the tv was the only sound again.

"This evening's top story... the war in the middle east has come to a surprising halt... With a live report from the battlefield is our main reporter, Elizabeth. Liz?"

"Thank you, Tom. A battle raging for the past several days has come to a strange end... at least for now. The combatants continued shooting at each other, but... even when hit, nothing happened. A few soldiers, once they realized this, turned their guns on themselves... with the same effect. Some have just sat down in bewilderment, but others are-"

A body whizzed down in front of the camera. The reporter screamed. After a moment, the person got up, laughed, and ran off. The reporter picked up her mike and continued.

"Others are... testing this out more thoroughly... as you just saw there..."

The main anchor cut in. "I'm afraid we're going to have to cut in there, Liz... there's a lot of other odd things we have to get to."

The camera cut back to the desk, and the anchor started speaking again. "Hospitals tonight are completely empty, as even the most critical patients have sudden been cured. The staff are baffled at this turn of events... and are wondering whether they'll still have a job."

"Of course, there are many other things going on... but they're all along the same lines. What seems more important now... is exactly what is causing this. Several organizations have claimed responsibility..."

A group of priests filled the screen. "This is one of the events described in the end times! Repent, sinners, for the judgement of our lord is at hand!"

Next, a scientist came on. "Now, what we believe is the key to all this, is the fact the astronomers have noticed that the earth seems to have teleported somehow to a point further along its orbit. Now, we theorize that the current disturbances people are experiencing may just be temporary effects of this 'quantum leap', as we're calling it. Now, this 'leap' appears to have occurred instantaneously, and was undetectable to all our instrument. What's really curious is that our moon, satellites, and even the other planets have also jumped. When correlated wi-"

The man was pushed off screen by a man wearing sunglasses. He held a lighter in his left hand. "Listen, you idiot! Time was affected! It has something to do with the disturbances we've been seeing in the digital world, I'm sure of it! Now ju-"

Two security officers pulled the man off screen. A fight could be heard. Something broke.

The tv snapped off. The boy took off his goggles, and sighed.

_Takato... you've really done it this time..._

**real world**

Izzy snapped on his computer. He scrolled through his programs, found the digiport, and booted it up.

The image of four digital worlds formed. Izzy shook his head. None of them had any large structure on it.

"Okay... so all four worlds are back..."

He frowned. "Which doesn't explain all that's happening..."

He sighed. "It has to be related to what happened to Koichi, Justin, Erika, and Carrie... and Kari and Kouji..."

He backed the program up, and searched the data it had recorded in the spire. "Battle... stairs... battle... stairs... battle... door..." he whispered, watching it play back. The battle with Sacrosamon played, finished, and then the video skipped, went to black for a fraction of a second, then continued.

He clicked a key, and squinted at the screen. "Hold on..."

He backed up, to the video fault. Black filled the screen, with red words in the center.

Izzy stared at it for a moment, then shook his head. He snapped a photo with his phone, and hurried off.

The computer screen stayed on, the words frozen on it.

Darkness and Shadows may be gone

But that is not eternal

Revive the four, regain the two

And the world is back to normal

A clue, the diviner of the way

GomamonElecmonGazimon

UnimonDrimogemonAgumon

AndromonDigitamamonShogungekomon


	2. The Fake Card

The Fake Card

Shadow- "Three reviews! My life has meaning!"

Renamon- "Um... okay... by the way, what was up with the explosion earlier?"

Shadow- (laughs) "yeah... that was Dragonrider04 again. He nuked the wrong city. Oh, and for future reference: I won't die that easily. I've survived worse stuff than you can possibly imagine..."

Renamon- "Like what?"

Shadow- "Um... you know how Earth's axis is tilted?"

Renamon- "...yeah..."

Shadow- "Put it this way: it wasn't always like that..."

Renamon- "...sometimes, you scare me... fortunately, you don't own digimon."

Shadow- "Yet. Oh, and please review. And Dragonrider04? Keep on trying to kill me. We'll see where it gets you..."

* * *

**real world**

Izzy ran to the nearby apartment complex. He ran up several stories, before finally knocking on a door.

Tai answered it. He looked Izzy over. The computer nerd was drentched with sweat. Tai smirked. "What, another egg hatched?"

Izzy groaned, and pushed past Tai. "Tai, that's not funny. This is serious!"

"So was I." Tai said, shutting the door. "You want a soda or something?"

Izzy shook his head. "No... I found something on my computer..."

"A virus?"

"No, it's-"

"'Good' pictures?"

"Tai!"

"Sorry..."

Izzy sighed. "No, it's something else... it looks like something left us a clue..."

Izzy hurried over to Tai's computer, and flipped it on.

Tai looked over. "You sure about the soda?"

Izzy nodded, and Tai left the room.

The computer finished booting up, and Izzy stuck the memory stick into the computer, pulling up the image. Tai walked back in, soda in hand. "...that's it?"

Izzy groaned. "Will you actually look at it?!"

Tai looked. The message was:

Darkness and Shadows may be gone

But that is not eternal

Revive the four, regain the two

And the world is back to normal

A clue, the diviner of the way

GomamonElecmonGazimon

UnimonDrimogemonAgumon

AndromonDigitamamonShogungekomon

Tai shrugged. "So? It looks like a poem and the list of a party."

Izzy shook his head. "Don't those names remind you of something?"

Tai shook his head.

Izzy looked around the room for a moment, then dived for a collection of drawers in the corner.

"Hey!" Tai yelled. "That's mine!"

Izzy flipped open the first drawer. "It's got to be here somewh-" he stopped. "Tai, are all these pictures of Sora?"

Tai blushed. "I... well... what about you and Trish?!"

"I didn't stalk her..." Izzy said, opening the next drawer. "Prodigious!"

"What?"

Izzy held up a card with a picture of Agumon on it. "Remember this?"

After a moment, Tai nodded. "Yeah! It's from when we were trying to get back to find the eighth child, and we had to pass through that door, and I-" comprehension dawned on his face.

Izzy nodded. "Yeah! I checked the cards that were used, and they're all there... except the Agumon card is in place of a different one."

"That's great!" Tai said. "... but who left us that message?"

"I think the sword did." Izzy said. "Sacrosamon was long gone by the time the message showed up."

"Why would a sword tell us that?"

Izzy shrugged. "I have no idea... but when we were using it, it was really reluctant to do what we said... maybe this is it trying to fix things."

"Umm... why-"

Izzy sighed. "Just look at the first lines, the poem! It says that although our friends are gone, that- oh, by the way, that reminds me, how's Kari doing?"

Tai sighed, and lowered his head. "She still has no memory of anything... Mom took her to the hospital to have her fed... but they can't really do anything..."

"Oh..." Izzy said. "Well, if the poem's right, we might be able to get her back to normal."

"Really?" Tai said.

Izzy shrugged. "That's what it says..."

Tai cheered. "All right! I'll go get the others in this world! You call the ones in the other worlds up! We'll meet in the digital world!"

Tai ran out of the house, and shut the door.

Izzy sighed. "...we don't even know where the castle is anymore..."


	3. Castle

Castle

Shadow- "Hello again, reading faithful. You know how my stories are (to use your word) insane? Well... this part's "insanity" is just starting. Oh, and digi-writer1392? Chill out! You'll find out about your "favorite characters" soon enough." (insert maniacal laughter here)

Renamon- "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

Shadow- "I dunno. Prescience?"

Renamon- "...what?"

Shadow- "Look it up."

Renamon- "...um... Shadow does not own digimon... and also scares me..."

Shadow- "And that's news... how? Oh, and please review!"

Renamon- "...seriously, what's "prescience" mean, anyways?"

* * *

**phone records**

"Hello?"

"Hey, who is this?"

"It's Tai!"

"Oh, hey Tai... what's up?"

"Look, Izzy found something that might help us get Kari's memory back... and those other kids..."

"OK... and...?"

"Meet me in the digital world in ten minutes, OK? Bye!"

"Tai! Tai! ...where in the digital world, you idiot?!"

**phone records**

"Hello?"

"Hello? Zoe?"

"Izzy? Hey! What's up?"

"I found something... it might help us get Koichi and the others back."

"And Kouji's memory?"

"Yeah, and-"

"All right! I'll be there in ten seconds!" (Click)

"Hello? Zoe?"

**n. digital world**

Izzy came through one of the portals, and found Tai and the others from his world waiting for him.

"Any luck?" Tai asked.

Izzy shook his head. "Not much... Takato, Zoe, and those six new kids were the only ones who I could reach..."

Tai nodded. "Good. When are they getting here?"

Izzy sighed. "How should I know? And there's something else: do we even know where this castle is anymore? I thought it got destroyed by Myotismon."

Tai grinned. "Not anymore! I used that digiport program you gave me... well, actually Matt did... and he found it!"

Izzy shook his head. "I've still got a bad feeling about this..."

Tai laughed. "Oh, come on! Let's get going!"

"We still have to wait for-"

"Call them and tell them where we're going!" Tai yelled. "I'm going there now!" he ran off.

Matt shook his head. "...is it even possible for him to chill out?"

**n. digital world**

Zoe sighed. "Is that the stupid castle?"

Takato nodded. "Yeah... I think so..."

Josh shook his head. "Come on... how many castles do you think there are?"

"Well, there's Zhuqiamon's, Ophanimon's, Cherubimon's-"

"Never mind..."

"Well, that's all good..." Mark said. "But how do we get inside?"

"See that giant flashing neon sign?"

"No."

"That's because that's a castle! They're supposed to be tough to get into!"

Takato sighed. "...unless the gate's open..."

Mark and the others looked up. "Aw, man..."

"Well, let's get inside..."

**n. digital world**

Izzy finished laying the cards onto the table. "Well, that's done..."

"Sorry we're late!" Takato yelled, running down the steps with the others. "We took a wrong turn at the upside-down stairs."

"Hurry up!" Tai yelled. "We have work to do!"

"Fine..." Takato said. "Sheesh... what's wrong with him?"

The large rocky doors slowly slid apart.

"Do you get the sense that this is too easy?" Zoe asked.

"No." Tai said, as he walked between the doors and vanished.

Takato and Zoe shrugged. "Wait for us!"

The others walked forward, walked calmly through the doors, and disappeared.

The doors slammed shut with a final sounding bang, scattering the cards on the floor, where they were swept away by the wind and disappeared.

_**no way forward, no way back**_


	4. Unknown

Unknown

Shadow- "Well, it's that time again... the time to update!"

Renamon- "you're really running out of opening lines, aren't you?"

Shadow- "... yeah..."

Renamon- "Thought so..."

Shadow- "Oh, and I'd like to thank Nameless Dragon, Renaki, and digi-writer1392 for reviewing... but instead, I decided to let Renamon do it."

Renamon- "...fine! Thanks to those three people Shadow just said. Oh, and Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "And review after you're done reading! I know you're out there! I can hear you caring!"

* * *

_**Darkness**_

_**An explosion of Light**_

_**And the Shadows in between.**_

_**And a dream-**_

_**A dream of you-**_

_**In a world without you...**_

**unknown**

The group of digidestined landed with a painful thump onto the cold ground. When the dust cleared, they got their first look at this world.

The ground had a scoured, burned-out look to it, as if it had used to be home to a forest, but a terrible fire had scorched it away. Rocky crags and shards of machinery jutted out of the ruined soil at odd angles, their purposes unknown. The faint outline of distant birds dotted the sky.

Takato pulled himself to his feet. "Well, that was a smooth landing... right, Tai?"

There was no answer. "Tai?"

Mark looked around. "For that matter, where's Izzy?"

The group looked around for a moment, until Ryan said "Hey... guys? I think we have bigger problems..."

The birds in the distance were coming towards them... and they each had a rider on their back...

**unknown**

Crash landing he was used to... and it's a good thing he was ready.

Tai slammed into the rocky ground. Hard.

_Ow... why does the ground always have to be hard..._ and as the dust finished clearing _...and rocky..._

The ground around him was made of hard rock... but it had no desolate air to it. The rock was a pleasant warm orange color, and had spirals of red, yellow, and silver running through it, which spiraled along the cave wall and swirled up stalagmites and down stalactites. The cave was around one hundred meter in length and width, though the contours of the walls made the estimate inaccurate. The ceiling was relatively low, but was high enough to prevent any feelings of claustrophobia. Well, almost...

"I hate caves..." Trish whimpered, clutching her head with her hands in terror.

Izzy patted her on the back. "Hey, relax... the chances of a total failure of this kind of structure is almost impossible... places like these can last for millions of years."

Trish continued to shiver, noting the 'almost impossible'.

Tai looked around. "Hey... where's Takato? And those annoying kids?"

Izzy looked around, and shrugged. "I don't know... they must have been transported somewhere else... I suppose that the portal wasn't very steady..."

"Well, I hope they're okay..." Sora said. "It'd be pretty bad to be down here all alone, with no light..."

Trish groaned at the thought.

"Hey..." Izzy said. "Just a minute... why is there any light here at all? We've got to be far underground... there shouldn't be any light at all..."

A sound of rocks shifting off to their left got their attention. "H-hello?" Sora called out.

As a response, a figure jumped into the light, and leapt straight at them.


	5. Two Encounters

Two Encounters

Shadow- "Plot advancement!"

Renamon- "Say what?"

Shadow- "Thought I'd give a preview of the chapter."

Renamon- "...o...kay..."

Shadow- "Anyways! Tired. Crew practice. Sleep."

Renamon- "..."

Shadow- "Now!"

Renamon- "Um... Shadow does not own digimon?"

Shadow- "Please review."

* * *

**unknown**

As the others looked around for their missing friends, Ryan said "Hey... guys? I think we have bigger problems..."

The others looked up, and saw a group of large birds approaching them... each carrying a rider.

As the birds got closer, Zoe gasped. The birds were skeletal, the few remaining pieces of flesh hanging uselessly from the bony wings.

The four birds flared their wings up, and landed, scattering dust just feet from the group of digidestined and their digimon.

The lead rider, a teenage boy with a tribal-style scar beneath one of his eyes, shook his head, scattering his messy blue hair across his face. He laughed.

"It's a good thing we saw your digimon in time... we were gonna cook you all!"

"Umm..." Takato said, looking over the boy's tattered clothing. "Are they digimon?" he asked, pointing at the birds.

The boy nodded. "Yeah, but they're not our partners... They're keeping watch. Hold on a sec..."

The boy looked up. "Hey! Kaligamon! Get down here!"

A large black dragon swooped downwards, its eyes blazing fiery red. It landed, and folded its bat-like wings gracefully onto its back. "What is it, Jake?"

Jake grinned. "They're digidestined, too. So relax, for once in your life!"

The dragon nodded solemnly, but kept its blood red eyes fixated on the newcomers.

Jake shook his head, turning back to the digidestined. "Sorry about the scare... anyways, who are you guys? I haven't seen you around before, and our clan knows everyone around for miles!"

Takato stepped forward. "My name's Takato, and this is Zoe, Josh, Steve, Ryan, Mark, Yolee, and Ken. We had some others in our group, but... we got separated somehow..."

Jake nodded. "I understand. That's cool. We get that all the time. Don't worry: If they're on the surface, we'll find them."

"Umm... surface?"

Jake sighed. "I get it now... you guys are outworlders, aren't you?"

Zoe looked around. "...I guess you could say that..."

Jake grinned. "All right! We haven't seen anybody from a different world since the Proxi'luci sealed the portal."

"The who did what?"

Jake laughed. "Relax, I'll explain everything... but we need to get out of the badlands first. Can your digimon digivolve?"

Takato took out his digivice. "Of course."

Jake nodded. "OK, then. Hop on your digimon, and let's make tracks!"

The digidestined, and their new friends, soon disappeared into the distance.

**unknown**

A clattering of rocks got the digidestineds' attention. They looked around, but saw nothing in the forest of stalagmites around them.

"H-hello?" Sora called out.

As a response, a figure jumped into the light, and leapt straight at them.

Sora screamed, and jumped backward. Biyomon moved to protect her, and the others started to take out their digivices, but stopped when they saw who the attacker was.

A blonde teenage girl stood there, holding a staff that sparked with electricity. She wore an orange shirt and red pants, colors which would have stood out anywhere but the odd colored rocks surrounding them.

The girl looked them over. "... you're different..." she said.

"Umm... hello?" Tai said.

The girl grinned. "Now I know you're not one of them. They never give any warning... they just kill."

"The who does what now?"

"The Tenebrae." the girl answered, staring quizzically at the digidestined. "They're the only ones with digimon... so I guess you must be some of them... rebels, maybe?"

"Look..." Matt said. "We have no idea who this 'Tene-thing' is, or what you're talking about. We just found ourselves here after we went through this gate an- ow!" he yelled the last part as Izzy elbowed him in the ribs.

"We don't know how these people will react to knowing we're not from they're world..." Izzy whispered, "So be careful."

The blonde girl, apparently, had excellent hearing, as she immediately said. "Oh! You're outworlders! That's so awesome! ...but I thought my grandfather sealed up the gates a long time ago..."

"Your grandfather?"

The girl laughed. "Look at me, babbling like this... My name's Alex." She walked up to Izzy, who flinched a little bit. "...and he must be your technician..."

"The what now?" Izzy said, backing away from the blonde girl.

"Technician. Operates the portals and other devices." Alex replied. "...and from your looks, you seem to be a good one..."

She leaned in close to Izzy, causing him to blush. "That's good... we haven't had a good one in a while..."

"Back off!" Trish yelled, grabbing Alex's shirt and throwing her back. "He's mine!"

Alex seemed surprised, but quickly laughed. "Of course... different worlds, different customs... it's a miracle we even speak the same language... although I'm sure your technician has an answer for that too?"

Izzy blushed, but nodded. "I'd guess a closeness on the temporal axis... some divergence in time-lines sometime in the past hundred years or so..."

The girl nodded. "Yeah... more like fifty, though, by the looks of it... look, we should head back to the settlement. I can tell you what happened to this world there."

Tai nodded. "Sure. That sounds like as good a place as any to start."

Alex collapsed the staff into a small ball, clipped it to her belt, turned, and walked off, closely followed by the digidestined and their digimon, none of whom wanted to get lost in the maze of tunnels that seemed to honeycomb the earth around them.


	6. Two Stories

Two Stories

Shadow- "Another day, another update!"

Renamon- "Seriously. Just give up. You've run out of ideas for an intro."

Shadow- "..."

Renamon- "Regardless, Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "...please review when you're done..."

* * *

**unknown**

The digidestined followed Jake and his fellow riders to a structure of wreaked metal that had apparently once been a skyscraper, but now resembled just a rusting, half-collapsed series of metal struts. Various spots higher up served as landing zones for the skeleton birds, while digimon of all kinds lounged around the base and exterior of the structure.

While the other three riders wheeled their birds upward to land near the roof, Jake kept his low, and guided the digidestined into a large room near the ground floor of the building.

While the digidestineds' digimon de-digivolved, Jake whistled three times at his bird, which quickly flew out of the building and out of sight.

Jake sat down on the floor, brushed his blue hair out of his eyes, and sighed. "Okay then... what do you want to know first?"

"Yeah, where can I get a shower?" Zoe asked.

Jake grinned maliciously. "Down the hall... but be careful, it's co-ed, so unless the brigade need to use it... someone'll probably use you."

Zoe blushed. "...I'll pass..."

Jake nodded. "Thought you might. Ah well... anything else?"

Takato nodded. "Yeah, I guess... first off, what is this place?"

"I'm assuming you're asking whether this is the real or digital world, right? Well, this world is real... though the digital world is out there... we just can't get to it."

Ken nodded. "Yeah... you said something about the 'Proxi'luci' sealing a gate?"

Jake nodded, impressed. "You've got a good memory... yeah, the Proxi'luci are what they call themselves, and since we never came up with anything better..."

"What's the name mean?" Yolee asked.

Jake shrugged. "No idea. They're just humans, like us, but they don't have digimon partners. When the first digidestined came back from the digital world with their partners, it seemed like every person on earth wanted one... but not everyone welcomed them..."

Takato nodded. "I know how that goes..."

"Some people, for whatever reason, decided they didn't want digimon in their world. They built this tower, and fired some pulse from it... and closed the gate forever."

"Did anyone lose their digimon?" Zoe asked.

Jake nodded sadly. "Yeah... some digimon, and some humans, got trapped on the other side... but they're either old or long dead by now... all this happened nearly fifty years ago."

"What happened to the world?" Josh asked. "How'd it get so trashed?"

"Well, as you'd expect, we fought back against the humans who hated digimon... but they had underground bunkers to hide from us, and used nukes to try and wipe us out... damn near succeeded, too."

"Fortunately for us, there was something about digimon they didn't count on... the digimon started to reproduce... you can guess how, I'm not going into specifics... and created more digimon for the offspring of the original fighters... and some of the others left on the surface, who survived the nuclear holocaust."

Zoe bowed her head. "That's terrible..."

Jake nodded. "Yeah... and the worst part is that they're still out there... hiding... waiting to strike... which is why I need your help."

Takato looked up. "How?"

Jake started scratching in the dirt. "We've discovered that they've dug a complex cave system... maybe connecting to natural formations... and have quite a few people left... I want to go down there, find them, and kill all of them for killing us and nearly wiping out the entire planet."

Takato looked at the others, then nodded. "You can count on us."

**unknown**

Alex led the digidestined through a series of heavy steel doors and into a large chasm. The room was enormous, large enough to fit an entire city in. In the center was a giant lake, fed by a large spring in the middle. Surrounding the lake were metal houses, lifted off the ground to avoid the changing water level.

Alex led them to a house that was farther from the lake, but was still in viewing range.

Alex showed them in, saying "It's not much, but its good living for a ranger."

"A ranger?" Cody asked, moving into the room.

Alex nodded. "Yeah. It's my job. I basically patrol the area around The City. It's the only one worth mentioning, so that's what we call it. Pretty original, huh?"

Davis laughed. "For an underground house, its not bad."

Alex blushed faintly. "Yeah... well, I promised to tell you what happened, so... here goes."

"It all started when the digidestined first appeared. Everyone celebrated their return at first, but... they started abusing their digimon. Robbery, murder... someone tried to take over Germany, and actually succeeded... just this one guy, and he beats an entire country!"

"Well, the governments around the world were scared. Their weapons weren't working... the digimon would just dodge all the weapons, destroy the planes... that sort of things. So they commissioned my dad; a scientist, by the way, absolutely brilliant; and he discovered that digimon were just data."

"Now hold on a sec!" Tai shouted. "They may be data, but they're still living creatures!"

Alex nodded. "I know... so did they. But the digimon were destroying the planet... ruining billions of lives. Killing millions. It had to stop! So my dad... he built this machine... I don't know how it works, you'd be better off asking our technicians... and it sealed off the digital world, and destroyed quite a few digimon, too."

"Kinda like that 'Juggernaut' thing Takato and the others told us about." Izzy said.

Alex shrugged. "I guess so. The problem was, it didn't destroy all the digimon... and the ones that were left started multiplying, killing even more people... some governments panicked, and used nuclear weapons... others just gave up. We went into hiding, waiting until we could figure out a way to save the human race."

"And that 'Tene'-thing..." Matt said. "That's them?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah... the Tenebrae... my father coined the name, but they started using it, too... He also coined the name for the device he used... he called it Proxi'luci... and we decided to name ourselves after the machine that nearly saved the world."

Tai smiled. "Don't worry. We'll help you out any way we can... but can I ask a favor?"

Alex nodded. "Sure. Go ahead."

"We got separated from some of our friends out there...can you help us find them?"

"Did they have digimon with them?"

Tai nodded.

"Hmm... I think so..." Alex said. "I'll just need to warn the rangers to use caution, and not attack without provocation."

Tai smiled, relieved. "Thanks."

Alex smiled. "Sure. What are friends for, right?"


	7. Ignis Ferroque

Ignis Ferroque

Shadow- "Well, it's that time of year again..."

Renamon- "Valentine's Day?"

Shadow- "...no. Flu season."

Renamon- "And you're sick?"

Shadow- "...no, I'm not. Why the hell do you think I've spent the past two days in bed?"

Renamon- "...you don't have to get all mean about it..."

Shadow- "Whatever. Fortunately, before I got sick, I wrote this, so I can update on time."

Renamon- "Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Please review."

* * *

**unknown**

Jake looked at the digidestined. "We need to attack the Proxi'luci... wipe them out and make this world safe for digimon and humans to live peacefully."

Takato looked at the others, then nodded. "You can count on us."

Jake smiled. "Good... I was hoping you'd say that. Now, the cave system is pretty complex, but we've mapped it out, and our scouts know the way to their city. It's the only one, which makes our job easier. We know they have some defenses, but most of them are designed to destroy digimon... not us. So, if we fly in there, attack fast, and destroy whatever means they have of destroying our digimon, we can let our digimon lose in the city, and they can wipe them out!"

"All right!" Yolee yelled. "Let's go!"

"Hold on minute..." Jake said. "I still need to convince the others that this will work... and I can't do that alone, either."

Takato nodded. "Okay. We'll talk to them, as well." he smiled. "I'm sure we can convince them!"

Jake nodded.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Yolee yelled, and ran off.

Jake laughed. "She's crazy... I bet she's hard to deal with..."

Ken sighed. "Yeah..."

"I'll bet she's great in the sack, though."

"Ye- wait, what?" Ken blushed.

Jake laughed. "Don't worry... I'm sure you'll get her there eventually!"

"But... I..."

Jake got up, still laughing. "Come on! We'd better get her back in here, before she accidentally finds the shower room..."

Ken flushed again, jumped up to help, and ran off after Yolee.

Jake laughed again. "You people are weird, you know that?"

**unknown**

Alex walked back up the steps of her house and slammed open the door.

Izzy, who had been looking for a power outlet for his laptop, banged his head on the bottom of a desk. He emerged, clutching his head. "Ow..."

"Sorry about that..." Alex said, closing the door behind her. "I talked to the other rangers, and they'll keep an eye out for them."

Tai nodded. "Good."

After a few moments of awkward silence, Alex said "Well... how about I show you the city?"

Sora shrugged. "Beats sitting here all day."

Alex nodded. "Yeah... there's not much to do around here, and I don't want to take you guys out on patrol, so-"

Davis jumped up. "Well, come on! Let's go!"

He ran out the door, brushing Alex on the way out. She blushed slightly, then looked back at the others. "He a bit difficult to deal with at times?"

Matt nodded. "More like all the time..."

Alex smiled. "Well, we might as well catch up to him."

She held the door open for the others for a moment, then followed them out onto the rocky ground.

**unknown**

The large cave that Tai and the others had found themselves in earlier was quiet. But that didn't mean it was empty.

A group of five rangers snuck along a well-worn patrol path, keeping carefully to the shadows, looking for any sign of movement, keeping and eye out for Tenebrae... and the digidestined that Alex had talked about.

They wound their way through a series of stalagmites, keeping a close eye on the surrounding area.

Unfortunately, they made a fatal mistake - they didn't look up.

A group of the skeleton birds swooped downwards, grabbing two of the rangers and crushed them in their claws, killing them instantly.

The other three rangers whirled around, and whipped out their staffs. Before they could activate them, two bolts of fire shot our from the darkness. Two of the rangers exploded in a cloud of blood and burnt flesh.

The last ranger panicked at the sight of his burned friends, tried to run, and was speared int the back by a third and final gout of flame.

The two birds wheeled down, and the two men stepped off, joining a third, and his digimon, who had burned the three rangers.

They whistled, and Jake leapt up out of a crater, leading the group of eight digidestined.

Jake grinned. "See? I told you our scouts could handle themselves."

Zoe eyed the bloody ground. "Um... yeah..."

Jake nodded. "Come on. They're city isn't that far ahead... and remember: stick to the plan."

"Wasn't your plan just to blow shit up until they stop shooting?" Steve asked.

Jake shrugged. "Hey, a plan's a plan."

The three scouts headed off, followed closely by Jake, the digidestined, and the rest of the fighters.

**unknown**

Alex walked down to a ledge of bright orange rock that overlooked the city. She waited for the others to catch up, then said. "Well, as I said already, this is The City."

"Over there-" she said, pointing to a series of low-cut buildings, "Is the main camp for the defense force. The rangers are separate, because they just report and defend from outside the city. If any Tenebrae got inside, they'd mobilize, and wipe them out before their digimon got a chance to attack us."

"In the middle of the lake there-" she said, pointing at a large structure jutting up from the lake's center, "Is the remains of the actual Proxi'luci device... the one that closed the gate. The technicians are supposed to be working on something there... but that's just a rumor. Personally, I think it's just kept there for looks..."

"And around the lake is the markets, the houses... everything necessary for normal life." Alex looked at the digidestined. "Well, that's our city!"

Just as she finished speaking, a column of fire erupted, blazing across the houses below.


	8. Drowning

Drowning

Shadow- "I have a statement to make! I love Ibuprofen!"

Renamon- "...what is... Ib... whatever?"

Shadow- "It's a medicine that gets rid of headaches and fever. And it's the only reason I'm getting this chapter out today."

Renamon- "...o...kay... Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "The story's almost over, so be sure to review!"

* * *

**unknown**

Jake crept along closely behind the three scouts, followed by the digidestined and the other members of the strike force.

After a few minutes of creeping along through the dark caves, the lead scout stopped, and motioned at Jake.

Jake snuck forward, and peaked around a corner with the lead scout. After a moment, his head reappeared, grinning fiercely.

"We're here!" he said in a barely constrained whisper, and motioned them forward.

The digidestined moved forward, and got their first look at the city.

Below them, stretching across the faintly orange rock, was a city. Squat silver building dotted the landscape, mostly concentrated around the defining feature of the chasm: a giant lake in the middle. Its azure waters contrasted with the lifeless orange of the surrounding rocks, and was the obvious reason why the city was built here. Other buildings surrounded the lake, but nowhere were structures more concentrated then around the shoreline. In the center of the lake rose an enormous burnished silver tower, which split halfway up, forming two delta-shaped peaks.

Jake nodded at the building in the center of the lake. "That's got to be defense mechanism, somehow... and the building around the lake are military installations...perfect..."

He turned to the group, including the digidestined. "Okay! Listen up! Attack the surrounding installations before you attack the central spire. But make sure you do it thoroughly! If any of them escape, they could launch a counter attack!"

He took out his digivice, which looked very different from the digidestinds'. It had three stripes of color running down it, and had fewer buttons. Jake lifted it up high, and shouted "Go, Kaligamon!"

The black dragon digimon burst from the shadows and blasted fire upon the city, followed closely by the other digimon.

The digidestined hesitated for a moment, then took out their digivices as well.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Guilmon... digivolve to... Growlmon!"

"Windmon... digivolve to... Whirlwimon!"

"Hawkmon... digivolve to... Aquilamon!"

"Wormmon... digivolve to... Stingmon!"

"Inamimon... digivolve to... Lupamon!"

"Obscamon... digivolve to... Trigamon!"

"Canemon... digivolve to... Ferocanemon!"

"Aucemon... digivolve to... Magnaucemon!"

"Corrimon... digivolve to... Resocorrimon!"

"Basimon... digivolve to... Infibasimon!"

Their digimon joined the others, and Jake yelled "Come on! Let's get in the fight!", jumped on one of the skeleton birds, and flew off. The others soon followed suit, closely followed by the digidestined.

**unknown**

As fire swept through the city, Alex and the group of nine digidestineds stood in shock.

Alex was the first to react. "What the hell?! We're under attack?!"

She quickly turned to the military base, but it caught fire moments later, screams echoing from all sides.

"Damn it!" she yelled, "They've taken out the soldiers! They'll kill everyone at this rate!"

"Umm... maybe we can help." Tai said.

Alex turned around. "Of course! You have digimon! You can fight on their level!"

Davis nodded. "Sure thing! You ready, Veemon?"

His digimon nodded.

"Agumon digivolve to... Greymon! Greymon digivolve to... Metalgreymon!"

"Gabumon digivolve to... Garurumon! Garurumon digivolve to... Weregarurumon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimonmon! Kabuterimon digivolve to... Megakabuterimon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to... Birdramon! Birdramon digivolve to... Garudamon!"

"Palmon digivolve to... Togemon! Togemon digivolve to... Lilymon!"

"Gomamon digivolve to... Ikkakumon! Ikkakumon digivolve to... Zudomon!"

"Elecmon digivolve to... Centarumon! Centarumon digivolve to... Sagittarimon!"

"Veemon digivolve to... Exveemon!"

"Armadillomon digivolve to... Ankylomon!"

Alex cheered, as the digimon finished digivolving. "That was the coolest thing ever!"

Each digidestined hopped on their digimon, so they could help out in battle. Alex jumped on Exveemon with Davis. "Let's go!"

**unknown**

Jake circled the lake again from his bird, watching the digidestined. A sudden noise startled him.

He turned around, and saw a group of digimon flying and running towards them. He frowned.

_That's odd... I didn't call for reinforcements... hell, I don't even have any reinforcements... who is that?_

**unknown**

Exveemon flew around the burning city, circling the edges of the lake. Alex clung tightly to Davis to avoid falling.

Exveemon attacked one of the skeleton birds, sending it and its rider crashing into the lake below. Alex cheered.

Davis looked around at her, grinning. "You can yell pretty loud, but I bet I can yell louder!"

Alex grinned. "You're on!"

The two got into a yelling contest, and only stopped when Exveemon threatened to dump them in the lake.

Alex frowned. "You're no fun..."

Davis laughed, and looked back towards the center of the lake. "Umm... Alex? I thought you said that thing was just for show..."

Alex followed his gaze. The spire in the center of the lake began to glow at the top, emitting a violet-white light that pierced their eyes like daggers.

Alex yelled, and shielded her face with her arm, clinging to Davis with her other arm.

The light pulsated once, and the two humans felt Exveemon begin to be drawn towards the light.

**unknown**

The same light also burned into Takato and the others. "What the hell?!" he yelled, as his skeleton bird bucked once, then was drawn towards the light.

He watched as the other digimon and humans were all drawn towards the light from the spire.

The air rippled once, and all the digimon suddenly disappeared.

The digidestined plunged headfirst into the lake below.

They sank quickly, as if the water wasn't there. But it was, and squeezed in on them, forcing the air out of their lungs, and leaving them nothing to breathe.

Just before passing out, they heard a voice.

_You are close to what you seek... but you may not like what you find..._


	9. Darktrailmon: A Choice

Darktrailmon: A Choice

Shadow- "Hello again, everyone. Getting down to the wire, now... this is the second to last chapter!"

Renamon- "The tension is killing me..."

Shadow- "Nice sarcasm."

Renamon- "Thanks. Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Please remember to review!"

* * *

**unknown**

_Darkness..._

_An enormous weight on his chest..._

_No air..._

_Oblivion..._

Takato gasped for air, but only bubbles escaped his mouth... there was no air to be found.

The darkness and pressure squeezed him from all sides, crushing him until he passed out.

The feeling of nothingness brought him to. He blinked his eyes rapidly... and realized he could breathe.

He sat up, and shook his head to clear it.

When his vision cleared, he saw the other digidestined, also trying to gather their senses. Zoe shook her head rapidly. Ken got to his feet shakily. Tai tilted his head, and smacked it to get the water out of his ears.

_Wait... Tai?_

"...Tai?" Takato uttered.

Tai looked over, then looked around. "Hey... when did you guys get here?"

Takato looked around. "...probably the same time you did... do you know what that light was?"

Tai shrugged. "I dunno... I think it's similar to Juggernaut... but I'm not sure..."

Takato's eyes widened. He looked around in a panic. "Hey! Where's Guilmon?"

The others looked around. No Guilmon. No other digimon, either. Davis looked around. "...and where's Alex?"

Yolie shrugged. "I have no idea who that is... but it looks like Jake's gone, too."

Tai blinked. "Wait, who's-"

A voice cleared its throat, interrupting Tai. "Your digimon, and your new friends, are not necessary here."

An object faded slowly in from the darkness that surrounded them. Zoe stood up. "Hold on a minute... you're a Trailmon... but I don't recognize you..."

The black Trailmon nodded slightly. "Yes, you have not seen me before... my name is Darktrailmon."

"Oh!" Zoe cried in recognition. "Takuya told us about you."

The train nodded again. "Yes... and just as I did for him, I offer you a choice."

When the Trailmon did not elaborate, Davis asked "Well, what is it?"

"A choice of fates." the black and crimson train responded. "There are two paths that lie before you... one leads home, to everything you know, to a life of peace... but your friends will remain the way they are."

Tai shook his head. "Uh-uh. We want the other choice."

"The other path," the train continued, ignoring Tai, "will lead you to places unknown... where you may restore your friends... but you may not like the results..."

Tai looked at the others. "The second choice is the only way to restore our friends?"

"That is correct."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Trish asked.

"You may trust me."

Tai nodded. "Okay. We're choosing the second path."

"Are you sure? There is no changing your mind once you begin."

Tai nodded. "We're sure."

The others nodded with him.

The doors on the Trailmon hissed open. "Then all aboard..."

The digidestined climbed onto the Trailmon. The doors whisked silently shut behind them. The feeling of acceleration pulled at their stomachs momentarily, then vanished as the speed leveled out.

Ryan sat down on one of the side benches, and leaned back. "So, where do you think we'll end up?"

Sora shrugged. "Who knows... but at least we'll get our friends back..."

A sudden upwards bump on the train stopped the conversation. The lights flickered for a moment, then exploded, blasting the train's interior, and the digidestined, with a flood of brilliant light.


	10. Tears of Light

Tears of Light

Shadow- "Hey everyone... do you know what chapter this is?"

Renamon- "I do, but for the sake of show, let's assume that I don't."

Shadow- "It's the last chapter! 93,301 words! Chapter number 100!"

Renamon- "...huh?"

Shadow- "That's right! I just totaled them all up, and it came out to 100 exactly! How cool is that!"

Renamon- "...you never cease to amaze me..."

Shadow- "And, since this is the final chapter of this story, I think I'll take the time to thank everyone who reviewed! So...

Lots of love goes to: digi-writer1392 (with a truely amazing 51 reviews!), Nameless Dragon (with a not-quite-so amazing, but still impressive, 22 reviews), Dragonrider04, d.kinght, chaos, Kami The Fox, Taeniaea, whatisee, Dag 417, Christophe Deschain, kuyaga, Renaki, BEWhiteDragon-00 (thanks for being the first to review...and then never reviewing again...), ins-Dragonclaw, Serenity 984, Selena The Ultimate Weapon, Kimiko Kinomoto, and Cool-Guy0934.

...with no love whatsoever for sry, who posted a chain letter as a review..."

Renamon- "Wow... lots of fans..."

Shadow- "yeah... didn't even know there were that many until I looked... well, thanks to all 18 of you! And please keep an eye out for more from me in the future!"

Renamon- "Good. Now then... onto the chapter."

Shadow- "Oh, right... I almost forgot... Well, this is, as I said earlier, the last chapter in this story. I think you'll, uh, "like" it..." (chuckles)

Renamon- "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shadow- "Oh, nothing..."

Renamon- "...right... well, Shadow does not own digimon."

Shadow- "Don't forget to review!"

Renamon- "...so, are we done now?"

Shadow- "...I guess so..."

Renamon- "Sweet! Vacation!"

Shadow- "Huh?"

Renamon- "I'm going to Disney World!" (runs off)

Shadow- "...what the hell. "When in Rome..."" (runs off after Renamon)

* * *

**unknown**

As the piercing light slowly faded from view, the digidestined slowly uncovered their eyes.

The Darktrailmon had disappeared. They found themselves standing upon a sea of glass, the crystal below them slowly undulating like water, but remained solid. The sky above them was on fire, swirling reds and oranges mixed with a brilliant white light, casting odd and ever-shifting shadows over the landscape. The constantly changing glass reflected the light in odd directions, washing a bloody glow over the digidestined.

A bright light shot up suddenly from the digidestineds' digivices. The light was made of many colors, but the colors swirled and combined to create a beam of pure white light. The pillar of light flattened against the ground, spreading out across the glass, creating a path across the landscape.

The digidestined looked at each other, speechless, and slowly, as if hypnotized, moved in unison to the light bridge and began to walk along it.

As they walked, the sky became consistently calmer, and the crimson in the sky eventually subsided, leaving only pure white in its wake.

In this pure light, the digidestined continued walking, until they saw an object in the distance.

The digidestined seemed to wake up, and ran up to the object. On a glass table lay the sword that had once been part of Sacrosamon, and which they had used to bring everyone back... and in the process had destroyed six of their friends. Takato reached for it, but was repulsed by some invisible force.

The undulating glass below them quieted, and a large semi-circular table appeared, also made of crystal, and surrounded the digidestined. Seven shadowy figures faded half into view. One of them began to speak.

_I guess the fools finally showed up!_ the voice said. _The little idiots have really screwed themselves over this time, haven't they? Let's make them suffer!_

_Wrath, calm yourself._ another said. _You remember that they have done enormous good... despite what they have "accomplished" here..._

_Oh, be quiet Serenity!_ A third voice said. _I, for one, would just as soon have you removed from this council._

_Quiet, all of you._ A clear voice rang from the center of the table, silencing the others. _You know why we are here. Let us not waste time with these pathetic bickerings._

The third voice growled. _Don't act all high and mighty, Miracles! You're just one of us, though you'd like to think differently!_

_Let's just get on with this..._ a quiet voice said from the side. _We all know what the outcome will be... but let them argue their case, at least for show..._

_Shadow!_ The voice referred to as Miracles responded. _That's not true! All of us come here with no biases!_

The voice called Shadow sighed. _Look, Light, Darkness, and I have our opinions already... and you know whatever Envy and Serenity decide, it won't change... and you can guess Wrath's position in an instant... _

Miracles sighed. _Fine, have it your way... let's just get this over with..._

A spotlight fell on the digidestined. _I'm assuming you know where you are? _One of the voices asked of them.

"With all due respect..." Izzy started, but was cut off by Davis.

"Hell no we don't! Who the hell are you, and where are we?!"

One of the voices who had yet to speak whispered _Amateurs... _

Miracles sighed. _I suppose there's no way you would know... we are the major crests... I am Miracles, and my fellows are Wrath, Serenity, Envy, Light, Shadow, and Darkness._

The others shifted as their names were mentioned. Miracles continued. _We are the council that makes decisions on events that are considered too important to be left to other, lesser powers. As for where you are... let's just say that this is Oblivion, and leave it at that._

"Oblivion?" Ken asked. "What's-"

Miracles interrupted him. _Now is not the time to speak of such things..._ _we have more important things to discuss..._

_Your actions have restored the balance of power in your worlds on numerous occasions... but more recently, your actions have been cause for great concern. We have been monitoring your actions, and we have seen you kill each other on several occasions, destroy your own worlds, and wipe clean the memories of your friends. If you have any defense, speak now, before the council makes its decision._

Yolie spoke up. "What decision?"

_The decision of whether to allow you to use the sword again. If you can convince enough of us, we will allow you to use it... one last time._

None of the digidestined said anything for a moment. Then Takato stepped forward.

One of the figures nodded approvingly. _Excellent... I was hoping the bearer of my crest would speak..._

_Wrath..._

_Sorry..._

"Hold on a second..." Takato said. "I thought that Hazard was-"

Sudden laughter echoed around him. _Hazard? That's not a crest! That's a warning! A warning of the undying rage that can be unleashed by the wielder of Wrath._

"Oh..." Takato said. "Well... when we were doing all those things, we thought that we were doing what was right..."

_...which is not the same thing as actually doing what is right..._

_Shadow!_

_I didn't interrupt him... he was pausing..._

Takato gulped, and continued. "But... now we understand how those things work, and-"

Shadow interrupted again. _You don't, actually, but you're close enough to the truth to recognize it... please continue._

Takato nodded. "-and we know enough to realize what is right and wrong... and we want our friends back to normal..."

_An admirable sentiment._

"Umm... yeah..." Takato finished lamely. "That's... yeah..."

Miracles spoke up. _Your arguments are noted. Council? What is your decision?_

Wrath spoked first. _I frankly could care less about your friends... although I can't speak for my 'comrades', I vote against. Let them suffer in the hell they've created._

Serenity spoke next. _I personally think that Wrath is just a blood-hungry barbarian... but he does occasionally speak reason. Peace is finally reigning in their worlds. The wants of a few should not be set before the needs of billions._

After a pause, Envy spoke up. _As my name implies, I am by nature envious of others positions... but even I find nothing enviable about your plight. I vote they are allowed to restore their friends._

Light immediately spoke up. _Though I feel for the bearers of my crest, they have suffered much... and will be happier without memories. Besides, how could I vote down a world where only Light exists? I vote against._

Shadow spoke. _Though there are other reasons behind my decision... such as the stability of other worlds in this vacuum of any mitigating forces to oppose Light... the main reason is that both Darkness and I refuse to allow a world in which we do not exist. Both of us vote for the restoration._

Darkness nodded in ascent.

Miracles growled. _Which leaves a tie... with me as the tiebreaker..._

Shadow sighed. _I knew this would happen..._

_Shadow, hold your tongue!_ Miracles growled. _Though I can see the advantages of an experiment of an all-Light world, there is too much at stake in the region, if this area were to become unbalanced. I decide that they shall be allowed to receive the sword, and ask of it what they will... though the idea of this "test" intrigues me..._

The air around the sword warped for a moment, the settled back to normal.

Takato reached for the sword, encountered no resistance, and picked up the bladed weapon.

After a pause, then blade rang with a calm, clear voice. _What does the wielder of the weapon ask?_

Takato held the sword before him, and said "Bring back our friends."

The sword hummed for a moment, then stopped. _This will restore the memories of your other friends... as well as return both Shadow and Darkness to the world. Is this what you wish?_

Takato nodded. "Yes."

The sword paused again. _Before I do so, I must warn you..._

When the sword did not elaborate, Takato asked "What?"

_You will not enjoy what I will tell you... are you sure you wish to hear it?_

Takato nodded. "Yeah, of course!"

The sword paused again. _Very well... while the powers invested in me are near-infinite... there are limitations..._

"You can't bring them back?" Takato asked, worry creeping into his voice.

_I can... in a sense..._

When no-one interrupted, the sword continued. _The essence of any being... what you refer to as a "soul"... is not ever-lasting._

Zoe gasped. "W-what?!"

_There is a limited amount of energy in the multiverse... so in order to prevent entire worlds from running dry, any excess energy must be... recycled._

Takato swallowed hard. "So.. We can't bring them back?"

The sword paused again. _Again, I say that I can... in a sense. I can create an exact copy of the original... identical memories, bodies... everything except one small alteration I am required to make, to distinguish a copy from an original._

"And what if we don't believe you?" Izzy asked.

Izzy's computer vibrated for a moment. _There. I have put a program for detecting copies into your computer. Use your digimon analyzer... and see for yourself when the time comes..._

"A copy?!" Zoe choked. "That's... terrible..."

Tai bit his lip. "Um... sword... is there any way to restore Kari and Kouji's memories... without creating copies of Justin, Koichi, Carrie and Erika?"

The sword did not hesitate. _No._

Tai thought for a moment, then looked at Takato. "Takato... we have to..."

"What?!" Zoe yelled. "No! They won't be real... they'll just be... there!"

Tai sighed. "I know... but if it's the only way to get Kari back to normal..."

Takato looked at the sword for a moment. He finally said "We can't leave Kari and Kouji the way they are..."

Zoe cried out. "Takato! You can't do this!"

Takato sighed. "...we have to..."

Zoe shook her head. "No, we can't! Think about this!"

Takato lowered his head. "...Zoe... think of the alternative..."

Zoe bit her lip, then sighed, and closed her eyes. "... there's no way I can talk you out of this, is there?"

Takato shook his head.

Zoe growled. "...well, then at least tell them! Tell Kari, Kouji, and those... fakes you'll make, the truth." When nobody answered, Zoe continued. "You owe them at least that much."

Takato slowly nodded. "Okay... but I'm not going to be the one to tell them..."

Tai nodded.

Takato looked up at the sword. "Sword... bring back our friends, restore our other friends memories... and make everyone but the digidestined forgets what's happened."

The sword rang out _As you wish..._

The sword flashed crimson for a moment, then the red color flowed toward Takato's wrist, and disappeared. The sword stopped vibrating._ ...it is done._

Takato sighed. "Sword? One last thing... transport us all home..."

_As you wish..._

**n. digital world, one week later**

Kari, Tai, and Izzy came through the digiport. Kari smiled happily. Tai and Izzy did as well, but a tinge of sadness was also there... they knew what they had to do...

Kari looked back at her brother. "Tai, c'mon!"

"Wait up!' Tai yelled. "You only got out of the hospital a few days ago!"

Kari laughed. "Tai, you know I'm feeling better! Now, what's this surprise you mentioned?"

Tai nodded forwards. "Look in front of you."

Kari turned, and saw Justin there, waiting for her. Kari laughed happily, and ran into his arms. They kissed for a moment, lost in each other.

Tai whispered to Izzy "Are you sure we should do this? They look so happy..."

Izzy sighed. "Tai... just remember that the Justin you see there looks exactly like the original... except that he isn't, he's just a copy..."

Tai sighed, but nodded.

The two boys walked up to the happy couple.

Kari looked over at Tai and Izzy. She saw the sadness on their faces, and her smile disappeared. "...Tai? What's wrong?"

Justin released Kari. Kari looked at him. "... do you what's going on?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea. They just said you were going to meet me here..."

The two looked back at Tai and Izzy. Kari repeated her earlier statement, though more urgently. "Tai? What's wrong?"

Tai started to speak, but his voice caught in his throat. He tried again, failed, and muttered "Izzy, you tell them..."

Izzy whispered back "You said you were going to tell them. So do it!"

Kari looked from each boy to the other. She said it again, now truly concerned. "Tai? What's wrong?!"

Tai took a deep breath, exhaled, then finally started speaking.

"Kari... when we brought Justin and the other three back... we tried, we really did..."

"Tai? Tried what?"

"The sword... said he couldn't bring the original Justin back to life... the only thing it could do was create a copy..."

Kari swayed for a moment, as if she'd been hit. Hard. Tears started to form in her eyes.

Justin's mouth worked for a moment, producing no sound. He finally asked "How... are you sure?"

Tai nodded. "He... the sword gave Izzy a program to tell if its an original... or just a copy..."

Izzy took out his laptop, and pointed it at Justin. After a momentary pause, a female voice intoned "Copy detected."

Kari choked back a sob. She looked up at Tai. "Why... how could you do this?!"

Tai sighed. "Kari... we wanted you to have your memories back... even of you had to face this..."

Kari's eyes grew dark, she swayed for a moment, then sat down hard. She whispered something under her breath, her eyes wide, then said nothing. Tears slowly dripped from her face.

Justin, on the other hand, bit his lip, and looked thoughtful. "Hey, Izzy..." he said. "Can I see your laptop?"

Izzy nodded, and handed his computer over to Justin.

Justin studied the screen for a moment, then pointed the laptop at Kari, and pressed a few keys.

Izzy looked at him quizzically. "What are you-"

He was interrupted by the computer's voice. "Copy detected."

Kari looked up. "W-what was that?"

Justin sighed, handed the laptop back to Izzy, and looked at the ground, his hair falling in front of his eyes.

Izzy looked at the laptop. "...what was that?"

"I scanned Kari like you scanned me... just on a hunch..." Justin whispered. "...and she's a copy too..."

Izzy's and Kari's eyes went wide. Tai leapt up, grabbing the computer away from Izzy. "What the hell?!" he scanned Kari again, but got the same result. He looked up Justin. "Where's the real Kari?!"

Justin sighed. "Where the real Justin is...gone forever... just like everyone who died that we brought back..."

Tai turned the laptop to Izzy, and scanned him. "Copy detected."

"What the hell?!" Tai yelled, dropping the laptop.

"Izzy got killed by that dragon, remember?" Justin whispered. "So did Trish... and we brought back Takato the same way..."

The other threes' eyes widened as Justin went on. "And then I was killed for the first time... and then so was Kari... and Kouji, and Koichi, and Zoe... and all the others... and for that matter, everybody in each of the three worlds... every single person..."

"W-what?" Tai said, his legs shaking. "But... that... that means... mom!!"

He grabbed his digivice, grabbed the laptop, and jumped through the portal. Kari made as if to follow him, but stopped when Justin shook his head.

"No, let him go... he'll find what he finds there... but I guess there's something we never realized..." he looked up at Kari. Their eyes locked.

"You can't bring back the dead... no matter how hard you try."


End file.
